The SpaceX explosion and its impact on Facebook

The 1st of this month saw a rocket explosion at the Cape Canaveral Space Station, United States of America. Falcon 9 owned by the entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Aerospace Company SpaceX. The rocket exploded right on the launch pad. In this event itself Facebook also lost its satellite.
Amos-6, the Israeli satellite contacted by Facebook was on board the rocket. The primary objective for this satellite was to connect Africa with high-speed connectivity.

This was the second accident under SpaceX’s jurisdiction. Since founding SpaceX in 2002, it has had more than ten successful launches of the Falcon 9 rocket. The first of the Falcon 9 rocket failure was on June 28, 2015, when it was trying to carry a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Amos-6 was the heaviest payload to date for a SpaceX rocket. It had an estimated value of between $200-300 million (roughly Rs. 1,337 crores to Rs. 2,004 crores), according to John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.
Elon Musk wanted to change the paradigm of the aerospace industry by making it possible to reuse the parts of the rocket after a single launch. As an essential element of this model, it was necessary to land them back in the upright position after they launch. Failing in this primary objective, it caused the craft to explode.

Official Statement- SpaceX explosion

SpaceX

On Friday SpaceX sent out a statement saying that the company is investigating the Thursday explosion. The company has initiated a formal investigation into the crash with additional help from the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA and the US Air Force.
The AMOS-6 satellite payload carrying rocket supposedly ended in the explosion because of a so-called anomaly that occurred during the static fire test. The defect was identified near the upper stage liquid oxygen tank. However, it is still not clear whether the anomaly was a ground issue or a problem in the rocket.”In the aftermath of yesterday’s events, we are grateful for the continued support and unwavering confidence that our commercial customers, as well as NASA and the United States Air Force, have placed in us,” stated SpaceX.

Tweets after the explosion

“Loss of Falcon vehicle, today during the propellant fill operation, originated around upper stage oxygen tank. Cause still unknown. More soon.” by Musk.

“As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite. The Satellite would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent.” Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

NASA said in a tweet that Thursday’s SpaceX explosion “reminds us that spaceflight is challenging. Our partners learn from each success & setback.”

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